The 1985 league season culminated with AWA facing a familiar and greatly disliked Fiesta Lanes team in the title game. Fiesta Lanes came in on the strength of an undefeated second half and they were licking their chops at the prospect of beating a hated rival. The game was tightly played from the outset, punctuated by numerous outstanding defensive plays on both sides. AWA clung to a narrow 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, but Fiesta Lanes threatened to take the lead by putting runners at first and second with no one out. However, the AWA defense saved the day with the most celebrated play in team history. A hard shot to third base was quickly turned into a third-to-second-to-first triple play, snuffing out the rally. AWA hung on to pull out a 6-4 victory, and claim our fourth league crown in team history.

The '85 campaign also saw the ill-fated creation of the AWA "Killer Bees", a hybrid version of AWA that experimented with playing without the team's best players. While Brian Christie, Greg Brown, Bruce Christie, and Al Brown were off playing weekend tournaments for the state-ranked Chili Dogs, the AWA leftovers formed the "Bees" for tournament play, testing our luck in the lower "D" division events. As we soon found out, The Bees didn't have much of a sting. We made quick exits in a couple of mid-season tournaments, and that bit of foolishness was soon abandoned.

Injuries played a big role in each of the next two seasons for AWA. In '86, the team started slowly with key players out of the lineup, so the guys were happy to see Father John Koeplin return to the AWA lineup after a three-year absence. The team finished dead last in the spring, but by summer, with the team getting healthy, AWA was rockin' and rollin' again, winning 10 of 15 games at the end of the year, and placing high in two tournaments. We were poised to win the second half of the league season, needing only a pair of victories over two of the league's weaker teams. But the team blew it in the clutch, losing both games and spoiling what had been an exceptional second of the season.

The 1987 campaign also saw the team afflicted by injuries, but those who stayed healthy enjoyed banner seasons as the team continued to win consistently. The first half of the regular season was a classic pennant chase that came down to the last game of the spring season, with AWA and long-time league rival Toot-N-Totem meeting in the final game with matching 5-0 records.

Toot-N-Totem jumped out in front quickly and seemed to have AWA under wraps as they held a 9-3 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning. But the boys of AWA rallied for six runs in the sixth to tie the game at 9-9. Those who could remember the great comebacks of the glory days had to feel this was another great story in the making. Were we about to sample another legendary AWA victory?

Nope. Not this time. Toot-N-Totem scored twice in the seventh and held off AWA's last challenge in the bottom of the inning to capture an 11-10 win, paving the way for Toot-N-Totem's eventual drive to the overall league championship.

At the end of the year AWA got a chance to play for the league's second place trophy, but that also ended in defeat at the hands of San Jose British Motors, a 14-12 thriller that went down to the final out. We still weren't winning consistently. But it sure was exciting softball.

The 1987 season was made memorable for two reasons. The first was the debut of pitcher Steve Wilson, who led AWA to an impressive third place finish in a tournament in Los Gatos, which was played in blistering heat of over 100 degrees. Pitching two shutouts along the way, Steve won five of the seven games we played those two days, giving up only eight earned runs over the entire weekend. That amazing effort gave him an incredibly low earned run average of 1.10 for the season. Welcome aboard, Mr. Wilson!

We also sampled fall league play for the first time in 1987, which we played out at the newly built Twin Creeks Sports Complex. We struggled through rain, fog, and bitter cold, reminding us all why we should only play during the spring and summer months. But we liked Twin Creeks enough to sever our 13-year association with the City of San Jose's softball program. From now on our home would be the new state-of-the-art 10-field complex just off the bay in nearby Sunnyvale.

The 1988 team was, by just about everyone's estimation, the best AWA squad ever to take the field. Our record book was practically rewritten after the '88 campaign, which saw the team put up what was then all-time bests in, among others, runs scored and team batting average. The team won 24 games overall, thirteen of those wins by a margin of ten runs or more. In league play the team dominated all year, winning 17 of 20 games.

But there was a frustrating downside to this prolific season, and the 1988 season fell short on what should have been a legendary campaign for the boys in AWA blue. We entered both the spring and summer playoffs as the team to beat. But in each case, we did not get the job done.

In the spring the team went 9-1, and opened the playoffs against The Team, who AWA had thoroughly beaten 15-2 during the regular season. But in a stunning upset, The Team cut down AWA 12-7 in the first round. The summer season saw AWA continue to roll with a league best 8-2 mark. This time we were prepared to meet the Argonauts in the first round of the playoffs. AWA had whipped the Argos 15-9 during the regular season, and we vowed that we were not going to come into this game overconfident. But AWA stumbled again and lost an 11-9 shocker.

The "Lose the Big One" legacy plagued the team even on the tournament trail. Battling through the losers' bracket in the spring Muscular Dystrophy tournament at Columbus Park, AWA won five straight games to reach the finals against a very rugged Scheffleras team. This time AWA reached the finals as the underdog, but we still lost the game 14-7.

The beer flowed joyously in defeat, as it had all year, but as a team we lamented the missed opportunities that left us unfulfilled. But it was really an enjoyable time to be part of the team. As a team, AWA had settled into its new identity and the problems of the past were non-existent. The team had matured to a level we never experienced even in our championship years. Now all we needed to do was figure out how to win the big one again.

Confidence was high coming into the 1989 campaign. And why not? After all, the team had played so well the year before. Our young talent was playing better than ever and the veteran players showed the savvy that 15 years of competition brings. The team fully expected us to continue the strong play from the year before.

It did not. AWA struggled through the spring season, winning only four while losing six. We had moderate success in our tournaments, but we never could seem to get very far into the weekend. We were losing close games. We were sometimes getting blown out. No one could put a finger on the problem, but there was speculation that we had missed our window of opportunity, and that the season before was our last best chance to reclaim our "glory days".

We improved in the summer season, but we came into our last game with a 6-3 record and needing to beat our opponent to sneak into the playoffs as a wild card. That opponent, a scrappy Martinez Painting team, also needed this win to make the playoffs, and they had already manhandled AWA 13-2 earlier in the year. Would this be just another missed opportunity?

Facing playoff exclusion, AWA trailed 10-8 going into the bottom of the seventh. But Brian Christie's bases loaded double tied the score, and then Al Brown ripped a hit past third to win the game 11-10. AWA was playoff bound!

The team came in as the fourth seed in a four-team playoff, but on this chilly fall evening, AWA put it all together, playing two near perfect games to win the title. First up for AWA were the Flyin' Squirrels, who came in with the league's best record and the #1 seed. AWA handily pulled off a 7-1 victory with Joe Sammut on the hill. We then squared off in the finals against a team called Just Say No, an arrogant bunch who, in one of our most galling defeats ever, had beaten AWA 21-2 earlier in the year. But this time AWA dominated from the start and ran away with a solid 10-1 triumph, giving the team its fifth league championship trophy.